Machine for separating sheets arranged in a pile for the purpose of counting them



June 18, 1957 A. E. ROSSWA LL MACHINE FOR SEPARAT-ING SHEETS ARRANGED IN A PILE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COUNTING THEM Filed April 23, 1956 2 Sneets-Sheet 1 Illllll Hl lll|lllII'III IIIIIIINMIIIlllllllli H l l'llllllllllllllllllll? yak/ LEM M June 18, 1957 A E. ROSSWALL 2,796,257

v MACHINE FOR SEPA RATING SHEETS ARRANGED IN A PILE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COUNTING THEM Filed April 23, 1956 2 Sneets-Sneer. 2

United States Patent MACHINE FOR SEPARATIN G SHEETS ARRANGED IN A PILE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COUNTING THEM This invention relates to machines for separating and preferably for also counting sheets arranged in a bundle or pile and consisting of paper or the like especially bank notes which machine is provided with a sheet separator mechanism of the kind comprising a suction nozzle having one or more suction openings for attracting the sheets successively from the pile and a release member revolving around the suction nozzle for releasing the separated sheets from the nozzle.

An object of the invention is to improve the means for attracting individual sheets from the pile and to facilitate the releasing of the attracted sheets from said means by said release member so that accurate functioning of the machine is secured and even rumpled bank notes and other uneven sheets may be separated and counted if desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a suction nozzle and associated valve means which will enable the apparatus to be operated at vacuums of an order of that produced by a common household vacuum cleaner and which will enable the above parts to be disposed well into the pile or bundle so that even defective bank notes or the like can be readily separated and counted if desired.

According to this invention a machine for separating sheets from a pile in a holder for the purpose of counting them and of the kind comprising a suction nozzle having one or more ports therein and valve means associated with said nozzle whereby sheets may be successively attracted from the pile and a release member revolving around the suction nozzle for releasing the sheets successively therefrom, which machine is characterised in that the valve means comprise a tubular ported slide valve which revolves around the ported nozzle and in contact with a sheet which remains in the holder in such manner that a part of a sheet is attracted from the pile forming a space between it and the next sheet and in that the release member revolves in the opposite direction to that of the slide valve and enters said space stripping the attracted sheet from the valve member. 55

Means may be associated with said holder for yieldingly pressing said pile against the rotating slide valve.

The axis of rotation of the release member may be so displaced from the axis of rotation of the slide valve that the circular path of movement of the release member is nearest the slide valve at the locality where the nozzle commences to attract a sheet from the pile.

The ports in the nozzle may be of such circumferential Width that they extend for approximately a quarter of the circumference of the nozzle in the direction of rotation of the valve from a locality where the circular path of the release member is nearest the slide valve.

The ports in the slide valve may be arranged within an axially extending groove formed in the valve.

The following is a description of one form of apparatus according to the invention suitable for counting bank that of Figure 3 notes reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure" 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the front part of the machine;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a front part of the machine, and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are similar diagrammatic views to showing the disposition of the parts forming a cycle of operation.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the base plate 1 of the machine is provided with a bracket 2 for a sheet holder '3. This holder consists of a fork-shaped spring clamp in which a pile 4 of sheets, for instance a bundle of banknotes, is fixed at one edge ofthesame. The holder 3 is rockably mounted on the bracket by means of a horizontal pivot 5, and the upper leg 3' of the holder extends a distance over the sheet separator mechanism which substantially comprises a horizontally mounted tubular .nozzle 6, encircled by a rotatable tubular slide valve 7 andthe release member 8. V

As already mentioned, the nozzle 6 consists of a stationarily mounted'circular tube. This tube is supported by a holding ring.9 attached to a standard 10 mounted on the base plate, and is provided with a suitable connection (not shown) to a vacuum source in the form of a vacuum cleaner or the like. The tube constituting the slide valve 7, which is rotatably mounted on the tubular nozzle and is closed at one end (the left-hand and in Figures 1 and 2), supports near its opposite end a gear wheel 11 having a hub 11 attached to the tubular slide valve. The gear wheel 11 and thus the tubular slide valve are driven in clockwise direction in Figure 3 from a rope pulley 12 through a gearing comprising the gear wheels 13 and 14, the intermediate shaft 15, as well as the gear wheels 16 and 17. The gearing elements 1217 are mounted on standards 18, 19, 20, provided on the base plate, the standard 20 carrying also a bracket 21 for mounting the gear wheel 17. The shaft 22 of the rope pulley 12, extending through the standards 18 and 19 carries a support disc 23 for the rod-shaped release member 8. It is to be understood that in operation the release member 8 revolves in a circular path about the tubular slide valve and about an axis A which is eccentric to the axis of rotation B of the tubular slide valve 7 (see Figure 3) and that the tubular slide valve is driven in a direction of rotation C opposite to the direction of rotation of the release member D.

Once during each revolution of the tubular slide valve 7 the openings 24 of the tubular nozzle 6 are in communication with the openings 25 of the tubular slide valve. The openings 24 are of a greater extent in the circumferential direction than the openings 25 in order to allow that said communication is maintained for a period of time sufliciently long to secure the attraction of a sheet. Thereby, the openings 24 of the tubular nozzle will also get wide dimensions. The openings 25 of the tubular slide valve are disposed in a longitudinally extending shallow groove 26 which is indicated in Figure 1 and also appears from the cross section in Figure 3 (see also Figures 4-6).

In operation the lowermost sheet of the pile is attracted approximately when the tubular slide valve 7 is in the position shown in Figure 3, whereby the sheet is by the suction drawn into the groove 26. During the continued rotation, and while the openings 24, 25 still communicate With each other, the release member 8 moves into the space formed above the attracted sheet, as shown in Figure 4. Upon some further rotation of the tubular slide valve, the openings 24 are covered by the 0 same, and then the release member can easily pull the sheet downwards below the tubular slide valve, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Due to the axis of rotation of the release member 8 being eccentric to that of the slide valve 7 the circular path of the release member is nearest to the slide valve at the point where the nozzle 6 starts to attract a sheet from the pile.

The tubular nozzle 6 together with the tubular slide valve 7 may be disposed well into the bundle of bank notes and in parallel with the edge of the same, whereby the separation of even defective bank notes is secured. On" account of the weight of the holder 3, if desired in combination with a spring force, the bundle is forced onto the upper side of the tubular slide valve 7 by a suitable pressure. It is possible to replace the row of openings 24 in the tubular nozzle by a slot of approximately the same length as said row. The totalizer for counting the bank notes is not shown but can be actuated by any of the rotating elements, for instance by a projection on the disc 23.

I claim:

1. A machine for separating sheets from a pile in a holder for the purpose of counting them comprising a fixed ported tubular suction nozzle, a ported tubular slide valve rotatable around said nozzle and arranged to contact with a sheet in said pile and adapted to attract that sheet forming a space between it and the next sheet,

41- a release member rotatable around the suction nozzle and adapted to enter said space, means for rotating said valve and for rotating said release member in opposite directions to one another and so that said release member enters said space stripping the attracted sheet from the valve member.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein means are associated with said holder for yieldingly pressing said pile against the rotatable slide valve.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the axis of rotation of the release member is so displaced from the axis of rotation of the slide valve that the circular path of movement of the release member is nearest the slide valve at a locality Where the nozzle commences to attract the sheet from the pile.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the ports in the nozzle are of such circumferential width that they extend for approximately a quarter of the circumference of the nozzle in the direction of rotation of the valve from a locality where the circular path of the release member is nearest the slide valve.

5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the ports in the slide valve are arranged within an axially extending groove formed in the valve.

No references cited. 

